Commonwealth v. Cannon

After the Superior Court ruled that a $5,000 fine was properly imposed against a defendant, the ACLU of Pennsylvania assisted in filing for reconsideration of that decision. As is detailed in the ACLU’s amicus curiae brief, the court incorrectly ruled that the defendant waived any argument about the fine because his counsel failed to raise it with the trial court. The Superior Court misunderstood that Cannon’s argument fell within the scope of a legality-of-the-sentence claim that cannot be waived. The brief explains the nuanced distinctions between the various types of arguments about whether a fine is lawful, categorizing them between ones that can and cannot be waived. Unfortunately, the Superior Court denied reconsideration without clarification.